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Notes from Board of Education Meeting, 9/13/22
The Board of Education Meeting on Tuesday, September 13, 2022 was streamed live on ccboe.com and aired live on Comcast Channel 96 and Verizon FiOs Channel 12. The meeting will be re-broadcast on Comcast Channel 96, Verizon FIOS Channel 12 and is available via webstream at http://www.ccboe.com/ . CCPS also will post the meeting on its YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/ccpsmd.To view the full agenda and the various reports, please visit BoardDocs .
The below notes are my personal notes and are not intended to be all-inclusive or official minutes for the Board of Education meetings and are provided as a request from my supporters and the general public in a personal effort to be more transparent. Although I have diligently tried to make these notes as unbiased and accurate as possible, I am only human and do make mistakes. Individual names are spelled to the best of my ability.
Executive session – 12 p.m.
Call to order – 1 p.m.
Board Member correspondence- Wilson - First day of school, Craik & Stethem; barbershop program
- McGraw - First day of school; scholarship committee - set up of scholarships happening now
- Brown - Cunningham Leadership Institute, new teacher orientation, first day of school
- Hancock - First day of school and sporting events
- Lukas - Leadership Institute, Sporting events, thank you to community for book bags & school supplies, free coffee from WaWa.
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Opening of Schools
- Transportation update - short 4-6 drivers daily with driver shortage and/or driver sick days. Not enough substitute drivers. Communicated through Twitter when this happens.
- Operations - students meeting in the works to discuss rules surrounding backpacks, laptops, cellphones, etc. Professional Development, instructional practices and culture and climate training on target.
- Programs - PK added 200 seats and will go all day. Reading and Math programs. Ribbon cutting ceremony. Middle School decoupled math and English to allow more time for those that need extra help and those that do not can take an additional class. Most are signing up for foreign language. High school added some additional classes and more opportunities in virtual academy and advanced placement courses. New barbering school is off to a great start with all 20 seats filled. Early college program started with 7 students.
- Battle-Lockhart - community schools for Indian Head, what does that mean?
- All families can get support with early childhood. Schools becoming Title 1 will get extra funds and resources.
- McGraw - Offer families with out of zone PK if theirs is full, is that with or without transportation.
- Determined on a case by case basis.
- Hancock - PK went from 800 - 1000 seats. Tier 2 and Tier 3 process.
- Total applications = 1,044. Does not include required Special Education seats currently at 244.
- Student Rep - CTE courses in Middle School;
- first course in Project Lead the Way or one tech credit early.
- Battle-Lockhart - Drawstring bags excluded;
- removed because of some students not making good decisions with what they are carrying around the school.
- 2, 061 teachers. New hire demographics. third in state for hiring non-white teachers based on student population.
- more conditional teachers hired requiring additional support
- still looking for school counselors
- nothing out of the ordinary based on new hires per school at elementary
- Middle school specialty areas are the greatest need
- nothing out of the ordinary based on new hires per school at middle school
- High School Special Areas are the greatest need
- Substitute teacher data - 41.5% fill rate for absences up from 29% last year. still need to do more.
Unfinished business - None
New business - None
Future agenda items - Requested List
Public forum – 6 p.m.
- Richard Wallace - resident Charles County. Deserve a living wage.
- Jerome Ned - bus driver CCPS; a select few people were chosen as contractors to provide transportation. retirement funds have decreased annually tdue to mismanagement by contractors. CCPS signed contract for camera traffic violations and none of that money comes to the drivers or attendants. they need more compensation.
- Marvin Weathersby - represents bus drivers and attendants and is a driver himself. Superintendent and board acknowledge that drivers feel underappreciated and underpaid. Union was started without your support. Local 689 can represent for wages benefits etc, Instead CCPS negotiated with AFSME and NOT the Local 689. Transportation dept forced contractors to sign contracts under duress without negotiation with Local 689.
- Nicole Kreamer - Parent and substitute teacher. Shortage of teachers, substitutes and bus drivers. we are looking at it through the wrong lens. need to look at the intangibles. we are dealing with human beings. conversations show they wanted to be treated with respect, dignity and value. decisions you make are affecting peoples lives. Living wage and comparable benefits.
- Cole Baden - ATU point person for Charles County and bus driver. shortage of drivers is due to wages. Buses are doubling up. Paying H & H 7 million dollars. but cant make enough to retire. Takes 25 years to get to top pay. you are going to continue to have shortages. The average driver last year was $22K. Under poverty level for this area and Charles County is one of the rrichest counties in America.
- Ian McGuinn - absence of BYOD and backpack rules is like a prison. Binders and notebooks required for every class along with the laptop assigned from 2008 that is slow and doesnt work. I cannot send an email and have a word document open without the laptop crashing. BYOD needs to be returned. Allow teachers to use their owwn discretion in their classrooms.
- Anelle Morely - Parent in support of CCPS bus drivers and attendants. support their right to unionize. Consider lives and families affected by your decisions.
- Danielle Neiman - New parent for kindergartner. Eager parents wanting to get involved and CCPS did not use our eagerness to engage. as new parents we were not in the database and receiving communications until two weeks before school started. We missed communicatinos and events at our school because of this.
- Deron Tross - resident. 50 years that contractors are profiting off the backs of bus drivers. Told them to strike. Going to fall on the new board because this one wont do anything. Inequities in the schools system. Malcolm, McDonough dont have the same equipment as North Point.
- Imari Riddick - Bag policy for students. Senior at Westlake HS that has witnessed all the changes. Started a petition with over 400 signatures. Understand safety concerns but students have not been considered. Bag is suppose to be the size of my hand. Guns are the size of my hand and people can still put them in their pockets or pants leg. why not use a bag the same size as laptop bag without pockets or clear bags.
- Corley Riley - school bus driver. Retirement plan. retirement plan went from $7,000 two years ago to low $6,000 this year. Need a new retirement plan. Board gave increase inn salary but reduced our hours and cannot pull from retirement unless not working at all.
- Jamilla Smith - resident of Charles County. Support bus drivers for livable wage and benefits. Some are going to Baltimore and Virginia for special services. They should have proper information on the students they are transporting, i.e. diabetics and anxiety. Native people attending public schools for Title 7 students.
Action Items
- Minutes
Motion to accept the August 9, 2022 Executive Board Retreat Minutes by Abell, Second by Wilson
Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson
Motion to accept the August 9, 2022 Executive Session Minutes by Abell, Second by Hancock
Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson
Motion to accept the August 9, 2022 Board Meeting Minutes by Abell, Second by Brown
Yes = Abell, Abujuma, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson
Motion to accept the August 22, 2022 Board Work Session Minutes by Wilson, Second by Brown
Yes = Abell, Abujuma, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson
- Personnel
Motion to accept Personnel by Abell, Second by Brown
Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson
Motion to accept Board Ethics Policy by McGraw, Second by Abell
Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson
Motion to accept FY2024 CIP by Wilson, Second by Abell
Yes = Abell, Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson
- Recurring Resolutions
Motion to accept the recurring resolutions by McGraw, Second by Wilson
Yes = Battle-Lockhart, Brown, Hancock, Lukas, McGraw, Wilson; Abstain = Abell, Abujuma
Adjournment
